Weekend Thoughts for 11/8/09

We spent part of this weekend in Chicago, and we were very pleasantly surprised at the weather. It was in the mid to high 60's all weekend. All-in-all, a very good weekend.

The car is fine (so says the insurance guy anyway), and slowly starting to smell less like deer.

• Every time that we go to Mia Francesca's in Chicago, the food is amazing. And always somehow better than the previous time. And this trip was no different. We HIGHLY recommend this restaurant if you are in the area.
• For all the problems that they run into with public transit, Chicago's CTA does a very good job of getting people from point A to point B. It is efficient, clean, and runs very often. We simply parked our car when we arrived, and left it there until we were ready to leave town.
• Emilio's Tapas was also excellent. We were a bit concerned when we walked by the place prior to dinner, because the place was deserted. But the food was excellent, and was very busy by the time we had finished dining.
• Ann Sather makes really, really good breakfast. We didn't really need lunch as a result.
• I found out on Friday that apparently McDonald's is the place to hang out in the morning if you are a senior citizen. There is bottomless coffee which appears to be attracting them there. It was a larger gathering than any in town we had seen to that point.

Working on another post with an announcement that will hopefully be up tomorrow...




Apparently I missed out on my big break this week. 

Weekend Thoughts for 10/24/09

I am still adjusting to the concept of "weather". On Friday we had a blistering rain storm, with 20-30 mph winds. At least in the morning. Until it got sunny around 11 or so. At which point it stayed sunny for about 1-2 hours, before the rain returned (without the wind). Then around 3 or 4 the wind kicked back up too. Until about 5:30 when we went out and it had gone back to a sprinkle at most. I've lived in areas with storms before, but obviously nothing quite like these.

• It is amazing how much you take it for granted that you have access to services when you live in a city. Something as simple as getting a passport photo. When you're in a small town, it becomes much more clear that there are not necessarily a lot of places to get things done like this.
• Watching TV earlier, there was a commercial for a "breakthrough deodorant replacement". Never need to buy deodorant again, it claimed. And while it may or may not work, I find it a little unusual that the doctor who was speaking on behalf of it was Dr. Dave E. David. Can't make this stuff up.
• We went out exploring this morning, and decided to stop for breakfast in a restaurant in Douglas (about 20 minutes north). Our main reason for this choice at the time was that the parking lot seemed full. Well worth the stop. They had a breakfast buffet on weekends for $10 a person, with some of the best bacon we've ever had.
• From the placement advertising (a surprisingly good idea it seems), we found that there was an indoor flea market in Saugatuck, not far away. It was actually very interesting to go through. They had a large building (I think in this case it was a barn), in which they rented out small areas on a permanent basis to local people with stuff to sell. While it was interesting to see what some people valued things at (a lot of them a little too much), there wasn't a whole lot we thought would be worth buying.
• Also back in Douglas was the Saugatuck Brewing Company. They had some excellent beers and one of the best environments inside their bar that I've ever seen. Very cool place it seemed.
• Next door was an antique mall, and a rather large one at that. It is a bit unnerving to see things from your own childhood for sale in an antique mall. But some of the other cool things we saw included a Rand McNally map book with maps (or the book itself) from 1890, quite a few copies of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books, and a surprisingly large amount of stained glass. It was interesting, but it seems that some people had literally called old crap from their house as "antique". But if someone buys the stuff, then it doesn't really matter.
• The Bears play the Bengals tomorrow, and hopefully they're going to not suck like they did last week. I can handle them losing to teams that are better than them. What I can't handle is when they do stupid stuff that costs them during the game (like penalties and red-zone interceptions)

Related Posts:
Weekend Thoughts for 10/18/09
Weekend Thoughts for 10/5/09
Weekend Thoughts for 9/28/09

Weekend Thoughts for 10/18/09

I came to the conclusion that on some assignments, there's simply not going to be enough things to write about on a daily basis. It hasn't been a very busy week, but I did notice quite a few things this week....

• Clementine's, one of the more popular restaurants here in South Haven, has some of the best onion rings around (or so I am told by people that know more about these things). They come stacked on a paper towel holder (with the stick in the middle), and come in either 6" or 1 foot size orders. Apparently they sold 6 miles worth last year. That's quite a lot of onion rings in 1 foot increments
• I went to the South Haven library's book sale on Thursday morning. Now, the library is interesting to begin with. When we drove into town, their marquee sign out front said "Get your banned books here." So I was not really surprised when I got to the library when it opened, and there were about 15 people waiting as well. The book sale had quite a few books I picked up, and I have plenty to read from now until we leave (and potentially more)
• We decided to venture out again in search of Chinese food, entirely due to a recommendation (and offer to go with) one of Brynn's co-workers. She was right! Excellent Chinese food in Mattawan (about 25 minutes east of Watervliet) at Chinn Chinn. Definitely a keeper, and we'll have to try to get back there again before we leave Michigan.
• We are definitely not in California anymore: On our way home on Friday night, we passed through the town of Paw-Paw, which is the county seat. In their downtown area (which seemed very nice as we passed through it) was an apartment for rent: 2 bedroom with electric and gas paid = $495 per month. Definitely not in California.
• The speed limits in the state of Illinois, for the most part, are 55 mph on the freeway. What the sign should probably say is SUGGESTED speed limit, 55 mph. At no point was there anyone I saw doing less than 65 mph, even with cops on the road. At one point, some genius in a van caught up with the cop, and was riding him in the hopes that he would get out of the way. After about a quarter of a mile, he finally gave up. I'm not sure what was going on, but even that seems ridiculous to me.
• I had been to Portillo's/Barnelli's before, but apparently had forgotten how good it was. They (in most locations) are a combination restaurant with two counters, one Italian food, and the other hot dogs. Brynn's favorite is the Peasant Pasta.
• We also stopped in at the outlets in Michigan City, Indiana today. Most notably missing from the photo on their front page would be the cooling tower that sits in the background of the shopping center. It is apparently not a nuclear reactor, so I guess that should make me feel a little better.